House prepares to vote on budget deal

The omission of an extension of unemployment benefits from the budget deal — while at the same time an extension of the “doc fix” for Medicare payments was added Wednesday afternoon — is generating more opposition from House Democrats.

Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) said a vote with the “doc fix” but without unemployment benefits could cost a lot of Democratic support.

Text Size

-

+

reset

“Let me put it this way, it puts at risk the whole bill and it surely puts at risk my vote,” Levin said. “I’m aiming to see that it’s done, so that’s my position. This place in good conscious has to address this issue.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) insists that a budget deal include unemployment benefits and has not yet said she will vote in favor of the deal when it hits the floor.

“It’s unconscionable that we could considering leaving Washington D.C., without extending these benefits,” Pelosi said.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said on Wednesday that the unemployment insurance extension isn’t a requirement to get Democratic support for the budget deal, but that Democrats won’t vote to leave town on Friday if the benefits haven’t been extended by the end of the week. It’s a largely empty threat — Republicans don’t need Democratic votes to leave town.

Levin appeared before the Rules Committee on Wednesday to request that Republicans allow an amendment be attached to the budget deal that would extend unemployment benefits for three months.

But Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), the chair of the Rules Committee, said he left the meeting to talk to Speaker Boehner, who told him that no deal had been struck to include unemployment benefits. Therefore, Sessions said he denied Levin’s request.

Sessions said he doesn’t see a way this late in the process that unemployment benefits could receive a vote on the House floor.

“I don’t think I would post it in time,” Sessions said. “I don’t think the deal is done. Final negotiations are not agreed to.”

There was lots of grumbling from House Democrats about the deal.

“I don’t think it is representative of the value of our whole conference,” Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), the vice chair of the Democratic caucus, told reporters on Wednesday.

But since Democratic votes will likely be needed to help pass the deal through the House, some top lawmakers are holding off on saying how they’ll vote.

Hoyer said he hasn’t decided whether he will support the budget deal and is waiting to see what comes to the floor.

“We’re missing an opportunity,” said Hoyer, adding he would have preferred a bigger deal.